


Storm

by queen_scribbles



Category: Pillars of Eternity
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-25
Updated: 2019-03-25
Packaged: 2019-12-07 11:06:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,154
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18234032
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/queen_scribbles/pseuds/queen_scribbles
Summary: Emiri really, really hates storms.





	Storm

**Author's Note:**

> for prompt 83. Roll For It elements: Kana, rain/wind, and comfort, This is in the same “altered” universe as Surprise, where Kana joins Emiri for a couple months of sailing around Deadfire.

 

It had been a long time since Emiri was this terrified.

Of course, it had been a long time since she was caught in a storm this bad, especially at sea. Even the one that wrecked the _Defiant_ on Port Maje had only been half as violent.

The _Mercy_ rocked as it crested a wave, and Emiri curled into a tighter ball. She squeezed the scrap of velune in her hand so hard she felt the edges dig into her palm. A worry stone was ineffectual in the face of such pure, blinding _fear_ , but it was something to cling to. The weather was far too rough for her to concentrate on anything, wind and rain and pounding waves. This was all she had.

The Mercy plunged into the wave trough, making her stomach lurch, and Emiri whimpered. _Sweet, gods, make it **stop**._

They didn’t listen. But then, Ondra had always hated her.

Briefly, Emiri wished she’d told Kuldrun to try and sail around this one, like all the others they’d seen approaching. But their supplies were low and the storm was huge, and _that_ had been a risk she didn’t want to take. It was hard to remember that while the ship was being tossed around like a toy, shaking her worst memories to the surface.

There was a knock on her cabin door, barely audible under the angry spatter of rain on the windows and howling wind outside, and it swung open before she could manage a reply. “Emiri, Kuldrun says-” Kana cut himself off when the sight of her cowering on the floor registered. “Emiri?”

The ship crashed into another wave, making her yelp and sending him staggering. Emiri flashed a wan smile, dragging herself to a sitting position. 

“I, uh, don’t do well with storms,” she mumbled, fighting down the memories that clawed at her.

“There’s no shame in that, even without your history,” Kana said gently. He strode across the cabin, leaving a trail of wet bootprints and large drip marks in his wake. “Storms are a frightening thing, especially at sea.” He nodded at the floor next to her. “May I?”

Emiri nodded jerkily, still squeezing the velune for all she was worth. She raised an eyebrow as he took a seat, fighting through the panic enough to note, “You’re _drenched_ , were you on deck?”

“Kuldrun needed another set of eyes,” Kana said by way of explanation.  “Everyone else with experience was dealing with the sails. So Maia and I offered to help.” He squeezed a handful of his sleeve and chuckled wryly at the amount of water that poured from it. “I suppose we did get rather wet. Apologies for the mess.”

Emiri shrugged noncommittally, watching water drip off his nose. “What did-” The _Mercy_ jarred down into another wave trough and she all but shrieked as both hands instinctively latched onto the closest sturdy thing she could find--Kana’s arm. She didn’t even notice when her clothes soaked through from pressing close. The ship pitched and yawed violently, and she buried her face against his shoulder, near _sobbing_ with fear. _BerathWaelAbydonsomeone make it **STOP**!_

Kana shifted, and Emiri suddenly realized she’d probably poked him with the crescent growth. Before she could open her mouth to apologize, however, for both that and the bruises she’d likely left on his arm, he pulled free and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. “It’s alright.”

All that came out was a whimper. She felt like a terrified twelve year old again; locked in as the water rose, even though she _knew_ the only source of _wet_ in her cabin was the friend she was doggedly clinging to.

The seas calmed ever so slightly, though rain still hammered her window, and Kana spoke again, his tone even and calm. “That was likely the worst of it. Kuldrun said it should begin to abate soon.”

“Good,” Emiri mumbled into his shoulder, her voice sounding very small even to her. Her thumb rubbed over the velune. They lurched over the crest of another wave and the worry stone skittered out of her grip and across the cabin floor. A small sound of terror escaped her as the world receded a little bit more in favor of unpleasant memories and her grip on Kana’s shirt tightened.

He started humming. It wasn’t a song Emiri recognized, not in her state, even when humming changed to singing. Still, the quiet words slid across her psyche, soothing simply by virtue of being something else to focus on than the raging storm.

Gradually the terror faded, gradually her madcap heartbeat slowed. Gradually her death grip on Kana loosened. The storm was definitely dying down, was the first thing she realized as she became aware of herself again. Second was how closely she was tucked under Kana’s arm, his grasp protective but loose enough she could move away if she needed to.

With her fear receding, she sat upright, staring at her knees and biting her lip as she mumbled,  “Sorry...”

Kana scoffed quietly. “What for, exactly?”

“Any injuries I may have caused? Completely and _utterly_ falling apart?” Usher’s scythe, _Kana_ had seen her _completely lose it_. “That’s no way to see your... captain.”

“Nonsense. You’re my friend before you’re anything else, any injuries are so minor as to be insignificant, and I’d rather be here, Emiri, than find you faced that alone.” He withdrew his arm, but remained close enough their shoulders pressed together. The _Mercy_ was still rocking, after all. “And if any apology is to be offered, it should come from me, for the extensive puddles I fear I’ve left on your floor.”

Emiri managed a shaky laugh. “I’ll take it in trade, then. I can clean up the floor, and a few puddles are a small price to pay for the, um, help.” She ran one hand through her hair, further loosening the braid that had somehow contained it until now. “I had some severely bad experiences with storms while I was a slave, and then being shipwrecked-”

“No explanation necessary,” Kana cut her off with a shake of his head. “Aloth mentioned you and storms don’t mix well, though he didn’t go into detail.” He stood and crossed the cabin to retrieve her worry stone. “I’m just glad I was here,” he said as he handed it back.

“Me, too,” Emiri said simply, curling her hand loosely around the smooth velune fragment. “I-I should be alright now, if you have things to get back to.”

The wind rattled her windows and Kana raised an eyebrow. “You’re certain?”

She nodded, squeezing the worry stone before sliding it into her pocket as she stood. “Yes. Thank you, Kana, truly.”

He smiled and reached to give her arm a comforting squeeze. “You are most welcome.”

Kana turned and left, and Emiri sank onto the window seat, heart pounding for reasons completely unrelated to the lingering storm outside.


End file.
